The Distancing Diaries - Day 148 & 149

On Saturday Jon was up first and brought mugs of tea back to bed where we lay and read. Jon got up first to start on breakfast, I finished Cathedral of the Sea before stripping and changing the bed and loading the washing machine. 

By the time we'd eaten our veggie sausage sandwiches (Morrison's The Best "Ultimate Meat Free Sausages", they're delicious) the washing was ready to hang out on the line. While I weeded between the cracks in the patio Jon continued with the job he'd started yesterday by filling & painting the bay window sills 

Much better! We had had Stonecroft's exterior painted by professionals in June, 2017 but as the house is south facing the sun (when we get it) doesn't half take its toll on the paintwork.

Liz's mum bought us this lovely blue glazed strawberry planter many years ago, as the house leeks are reproducing like mad I thought I would make a pretty new home for some of them.

I couldn't wait for a special occasion to wear my latest vintage Anokhi skirt, waking up alive is reason enough.

WEARING: 1970s Anokhi maxi skirt with block print border & Afghan Kuchi earrings (eBay), crochet halterneck (bought from the roadside in Goa, 2016), vintage Polaroid sunglasses (car boot sale)

 Contrary to expectations, Saturday was warm and sporadically sunny. 

In the mood for some outdoor sewing I took up another of my vintage Anokhi maxi skirts which took a couple of hours as again, I'd had to add an interior pleat and hand stitch it both inside & out, which wasn't a problem, it was lovely with the lads keeping me company.

I laughed out loud when a friend shared the picture on the left on Facebook. Frank has decided that Jon's favourite deckchair is also his favourite and whenever Jon dares to sit on it Frank gives him such a tragic look that he has to surrender and sit on the floor.

Tea was another quiche with salad, a tiny carrot each from our pathetic (but delicious) harvest and our homegrown new potatoes which, after boiling in their skins, Jon tossed in olive oil, sea salt and Moroccan seasoning and finished off in the oven. 

Entertainment was provided by Monty Don and the gardens of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, the USA, China & Japan and a few glasses of rum.

At 5am on Sunday morning (day 149) I was awoken by the sound of rain pitter-pattering against the window panes. I ignored it for as long as I could before getting up, letting the lads out and taking mugs of tea back to bed, making a start on my latest charity shop book.

Jon got up at 8am. I epilated my legs, tidied the bedroom and joined him downstairs in the kitchen. We both had an egg on toast (mine poached, Jon's fried) and watched Beechgrove, Scotland's answer to Gardener's World. As the rain looked set to stick around, Jon assembled all he needed to paint the skirting boards he'd fitted in the kitchen on Thursday while I cleaned the lounge.

After a blog catch-up I cleaned the spare bedroom and then dragged out the computer desk in the dining room downstairs and tackled all the dust that had accumulated behind it. 

I was able to take advantage of a pause in the rain for an outfit and nail paint of the week photo (Barry M's Passionfruit).

My hair is slathered in conditioner ready for its weekly wash later. I'm wearing a charity-shopped vintage Rumak cheesecloth midi dress, Lotta clogs, Afghan Kuchi earrings from eBay and the belt I bought last week.

Yesterday's paint had dried so we reinstated the window boxes. 

I bought the window box in the centre back in 1999 where it sat on the outside sill of our previous mid-Victorian terraced house until we bought Stonecroft & moved into in 2005. Impossible to find in any garden centres back than, I'd bought it from a London-based design company I'd seen advertised in Living Etc., an interiors magazine I used to be addicted to. The other window boxes came from Sainsbury's supermarket in 2006 and had been reduced to £5 as the trend for galvanised metal was apparently over (like I've ever worried about having a fashionable garden). 

Stephen Squirrel's into his second week of thyroid tablets. He seems less mithered and a lot more relaxed. He's spent the best part of the day asleep on our bed and who could blame him? Its an effort to go outside on a damp & miserable 17°C day.

After noodles Jon fitted the final skirting board, the tricky one on the particularly wonky wall behind the kitchen cupboard. I thought it best to keep a safe distance and disappeared upstairs to make a few more face masks with the charity shopped garments I'd bought a couple of weeks ago. As always I listened to 6Music whilst sewing. A blissful afternoon of everything from vintage Bollywood & Nina Simone to psychedelic rock & Ethiopian jazz. 

Tea is halloumi with roast vegetables and the smell of it cooking is making me even hungrier than I am already. Tonight we'll be watching a bit more Monty Don, we loved revisiting some of the great gardens of India with him the other night - that's us messing about in Agra Fort back in 2018 (HERE). 

Stay safe, thanks for reading and see you soon!

PS I'll catch up with blog comments shortly, I'm behind yet again! Done!!